Qualifications, training and experience

Jo-Anne began training in 1998, obtaining an HNC in Dance Movement Therapy Studiesfrom Bristol-based organisation DanceVoicein 2001. To support safe exercise and to meet the needs of people diagnosed with osteoporosis and other conditions affecting their balance and susceptibility to falls, she subsequently trained as anOTAGO (chair-based) Exercise Programme Leader(Registered Exercise Professional (REPS) level 3 accredited). In January 2013, she also qualified as a Specialist Postural Stability Instructor (REPS level 4), which enables her to devise and lead individually tailored, adapted exercise programmes for those with health conditions including chronic pulmonary respiratory disease, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and more. Jo-Anne is an approved exercise instructor under the nationwide GP exercise referral scheme for the over 50s and specialises in working with this age group.

Other trainingJo-Anne continually strives to update and expand her knowledge of current practice in the areas of dance, movement and exercise and their relationship to health and wellbeing as well as safe, ethical and professional practice. Other courses she has undertaken since qualifying as a movement facilitator have included:

Client base and experience Over the past 16 years, Jo-Anne has helped a wide range of clients in various places; in addition to the ‘generally able’ adult population in the business and leisure industries, this has included individuals with physical, learning and mental health difficulties, young children in crèches and nurseries and retired people in sheltered housing and residential homes as well as the (temporarily) less mobile (i.e. those recuperating from illness, operations or injuries, those unused to exercise, women in the latter stages of pregnancy etc).

Jo-Anne isa professional member of the Foundation for Community Dance, with an appropriate level of Personal Liability Insurance cover.